A world growing old : the coming health care challenges / edited by Daniel Callahan, Ruud H.J. ter Meulen, Eva Topinková.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

For much of the developed world, health care for a surging elderly population looms as one of the most daunting problems of the coming decade. In A World Growing Old, contributors from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and countries discuss resource allocation for the elderly and debate plans for the years ahead. Essays focus on five general issues: the meaning of old age, the goals of medicine and health care for the elderly, the balance between the needs of the young and old, the pressures of other social priorities, and the role of families, especially the burden on women, in long-term care.

In consideration of the difficult moral and practical issues involved, the editors conclude the volume with a special report containing policy recommendations from representatives of eight countries (the United States, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). This important volume will be of interest to policy-makers and a broad spectrum of health care professionals, as well as to anyone interested in the fate of the elderly or in coming health care challenges.

How we care for the elderly / Mark J. Hanson -- The meaning of old age : scenarios for the future / Harry R. Moody -- Aging and the life cycle : a moral norm? / Daniel Callahan -- Life extension and the meaning of life / Paul van Tongeren -- Will there be a scarcity of resources? : the future demand for care by the elderly / Anneke van den Berg Jeths and Mats Thorslund -- Effects of population aging on health care expenditure and financing : some illustrations / Reiner Leidl -- Caring for the elderly : priorities for an aging population / Mats Thorslund and Marti G. Parker -- Solidarity with the elderly and the allocation of resources / Ruud H.J. ter Meulen -- The elderly and high-technology therapies / Bryan Jennett -- The meaning of old age impeded by chronic disease / Gebhard Allert [and others] -- Family caregiving for the elderly : are there ways to meet the need? / Eva Topinková -- Adult daughter caregivers : philosophical analysis and implications for health care policy / Sarah-Vaughan Brakman -- Institutional care of the elderly : lessons from Hungary / Bela Blasszauer -- From generation to generation : why U.S. health care reform is so difficult in the twentieth century / W. Andrew Achenbaum -- What do we owe the elderly? : allocating social and health care resources / Ruud H.J. ter Meulen, Eva Topinková, and Daniel Callahan.

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